Northside

A letter from Ephesus Volume 7 Number 3

September 1999

When the lodge has a grip on a church When a congregation has been spiritually compromised in a substantial way and the congregation as a whole, as well as those who stand as spiritual leaders, have demonstrated a stubborn willingness not only to tolerate, but to defend grievous error, it is necessary to confront both the congregation and its leaders in order to avoid judgment. Potential new members, as well as those members who were not present when the nature of compromise was previously shared with the congregation, have a right to information which will allow them to evaluate the spiritual climate in the congregation and the spiritual integrity of leadership.

An Open Letter to Northside Baptist Church (3021 East 71st St. - Indianapolis, Indiana 46220)

Modern Day Idolatry The people of Northside Baptist Church are considering a move from one location to another. Is the new location the promised land for Northside? Like the people of Israel, the people of Northside are sending a group to scout the new land. The man named as chairman of the land acquisition team is a member of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. (A.A.O.N.M.S.) He is a Shriner. The Shrine and its ritual are centered around an Islamic motif. The Murat Shrine, where the rituals are enacted, displays the crescent moon of Islam boldly on the building. The jewelry which Shriner's often wear, as well as other Shrine emblems, also display the crescent moon, a star and the scimitar. The scimitar is the large knife which Muhammad used to kill those who worshipped other gods in his drive to “rid the Ka’aba of idolatry.” Muhammad and Islam decreed death to all those who do not worship Allah. Allah is one of the many gods which were worshipped by the pagans surrounding the Ka’aba. Allah was chosen for unique worship simply because he was the “Supreme Deity” of the pagan Bedouin people. The people of Islam were no better off after Muhammad "purged idolatry" from the Ka’aba than they were before, because they simply exchanged the worship of one demon for another.

God's people have made a move from one location to another at various times. Perhaps the most remembered move was the time when the people of Israel moved into the promised land. The move took a number of years to come to fruition. First, God led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness. In the wilderness they became ensnared in the worship of false gods. It happened at the very time at which Islam was founded approximately 628-630 A.D., 600 years God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments on the after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Muhammad taught mountain. God told Moses: and wrote that Jesus was not Almighty God, but rather simply Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out a prophet. Islam claims to pay high tribute to Jesus Christ, of Egypt, have become corrupt. EXODUS 32:7 yet they hold that He is a prophet who is less significant than God was greatly angered at the people because He is a Muhammad. The nature of the god of Islam is simple to jealous God. As a result of their idolatry, many of the people discern. Allah does not have a son. The simple fact that the were killed. God struck the remainder of them with a plague. God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does have a Son makes (EXODUS 32:35) Moses, too, was guilty of disobedience. He it clear that Allah cannot be the God of the Bible. 2 J OHN 9 struck the rock twice with his rod to cause water to flow from makes it clear that those who do not follow in the teachings it, rather than simply speak to it as God had told him to do. of Jesus Christ do not have God. As a result of Moses' disobedience, he was not allowed to enter the promised land. (NUMBERS 20:11-12) Even though the people of Israel were not right with God, Moses was faithful in revealing God's will to them. Godly leadership, provided by imperfect men, played a part in leading the people to repentance. God provided specific instructions through Moses. When the Israelites entered the promised land, they were not to live in harmony with the idolatrous people who inhabited the land. They were to destroy the pagan altars and make no treaty with the people. They were specifically commanded not to intermarry with them. The reason was simple. Worship of false gods would be a snare for them. Simply allowing those who were involved in idolatry to coexist with them would cause the people of Israel to engage in idolatry.

Does the fact that a man chosen as chairman of the land acquisition committee, as well as other men in the congregation, have embraced the Shrine hold significance for Northside? There are aspects of the A.A.O.N.M.S. ritual which are reason for concern. Shriners take the oath of a Moslem and name Allah as the god of their fathers in the Shrine ritual. It is obvious that Shriners are involved with a false god. Some of the Shriners in our congregation would insist that they are not involved in idolatry because they would claim that Allah is simply another name for God. Others would choose to deny that the ritual mentions Allah, or the Moslem faith in any significant way. Yet there are some in our congregation who have repented of the involvement in the Shrine who have admitted that the ritual does contain the oath of a Moslem and name Allah as God. Since

Ephesians 5:11, Inc., Box 291, Fishers, IN 46038 Phone (317) 842-4543 FAX (317) 577-8910 EMAIL [email protected]

confessions of those in our congregation who have repented agree with printed exposures of the Shrine ritual, there is little doubt about the truth concerning the Shrine ritual. Our situation is not that we are about to enter a promised land in which the inhabitants are ensnared in paganism. Rather, it is the people of Northside who will carry the snare of paganism into any new land.

Shrine Ritual and the Rites of Lucifer A portion of the Shrine ritual is similar to L'AIR EPAIS, one of the Rites of Lucifer. L’AIR EPAIS is documented in THE SATANIC RITUALS, a book authored by Anton LaVEY - the founder of the Church of Satan. LaVEY examined the Shrine ritual and recognized elements of L’AIR E PAIS within it. He wrote: A striking American parallel to this rite is enacted within the mosques of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, an order reserved for thirty-second degree Masons. The Nobles (Shriners) have gracefully removed themselves from any implication of heresy by referring to the place beyond the Devil’s Pass as the domain where they might ‘worship at the shrine of Islam.’ THE S ATANIC RITUALS, page 56

Some at Northside, like LaVEY, would not admit that the Shrine ritual contains heresy. Yet, both Allah and the Devil are demons. Naming Allah as God is no less serious than naming the Devil as God. It does not avoid, or diminish heresy. Islam is a demonic religion which denies the Deity of Jesus Christ.

The Structure of Freemasonry Shrine - A.A.O.N.M.S.

The furnishings of the Council of the Knights of the Sun are few... Transparencies throughout the room provide additional light and have upon them the major symbols which are intended to help convey the teachings of the degree. . . . The most elaborate transparency hangs in the North and may be called the Ancient of Days. The first notable symbol in this complex transparency is its border: the Gnostic worm ouroboros, which is a simplified dragon or serpent biting its tail... The ritual says that the Active Principle seeks the Passive Principle; fullness, is amorous of the void; the serpent’s mouth attracts his tail, and revolving on himself, he at the same time flees from and pursues himself. A BRIDGE TO LIGHT, pp 251-2

The drawing of the dualistic Masonic god, with the serpent devouring his own tail is shown on page 252. The following explanation is provided: “There is a Life-Principle of the world, a universal agent, wherein are two natures and a double current, of love and wrath. . . . It is a ray detached from the glory of the Sun, . . . It is the body of the Holy Spirit, the universal Agent, the Serpent devouring his own tail (p.734).” A BRIDGE TO LIGHT, p. 253 (Ellipses in the original. They quote from an earlier Supreme Council work, MORALS AND DOGMA, by Pike.)

Tying Lucifer to the Grand Lodges Scottish Rite

York Rite

The Blue Lodge

Membership in the Shrine is available to those who hold membership in a Masonic Blue Lodge as well as membership in either the York Rite, or Scottish Rite. Heresy is not confined to the Shrine. Many Masons claim that the York Rite contains the “Christian” degrees. Yet the first York Rite degree is opened in the name of “God” and Hiram Abif, the Masonic savior. Ties to Lucifer, the Serpent, the Devil, etc., are not unique to the Shrine. They are found in Scottish Rite publication as well as those recommended by Grand Lodges, the authorities of Freemasonry.

The “Holy Spirit” of the Scottish Rite A BRIDGE TO LIGHT is an official publication of the Supreme Council, 33 O Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, published in 1988. In the description for the 28O, Knight of the Sun, the furnishings of the room in which the degree is conveyed are explained:

The idea that the serpent is the Holy Spirit is not unique to Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The authorities of Freemasonry, the Grand Lodges, point the way to the “deeper teachings of the craft,” while attempting at the same time to maintain “plausible deniability.” Yet, when the evidence is on the table, the character of Freemasonry is obvious to those with an ounce of discernment. One of the introductory books used by Grand Lodges is THE BUILDERS, a book written by Joseph Fort Newton at the request of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. Many Grand Lodges recommend the book and some issue a copy to all new Master Masons. In Indiana, the Grand Lodge points to T HE BUILDERS in the INDIANA MONITOR AND FREEMASON'S GUIDE. The Indiana Monitor is issued to all new Master Masons in Indiana. It recommends T HE B UILDERS, with the words: WHEN IS A MAN A MASON? The following was written by Brother Dr. Joseph Fort Newton, as the closing paragraph of his widely read book “The Builders.” It bids fair to become a Masonic classic. . . (INDIANA MONITOR AND F REEMASON'S GUIDE, page 172)

THE BUILDERS contains a glowing three page tribute to Arthur Edward Waite, in a chapter titled THE SECRET DOCTRINE. Newton writes the following: Perhaps the greatest student in this field of esoteric teaching and method, certainly the greatest now living is Arthur Edward Waite, to whom it is a pleasure to pay tribute. THE BUILDERS, page 57.

Speaking of Waite's books, Newton wrote: And the result is a series of volumes noble in form, united in aim, unique in wealth of revealing beauty, and of unequalled worth. Beginning as far back as 1886, Waite issued his study of the Mysteries of Magic, a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi, to whom Albert Pike was more indebted than he let us know. THE BUILDERS, page 59.

The M YSTERIES OF M AGIC contains the following teaching concerning the nature of Lucifer: :

What is more absurd and more impious than to attribute the name of Lucifer to the devil, that is, to personified evil, The intellectual Lucifer is the spirit of intelligence and love; it is the Paraclete, it is the Holy Spirit, while the physical Lucifer is the great agent of universal magnetism. THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC, page 428.

The next paragraph goes on to explain that the Devil does not exist: To personify evil and exalt it into an intelligence which is the rival of God, into a being which can understand but love no more-this is a monstrous fiction. To believe that God permits this evil intelligence to deceive and destroy his feeble creatures is to make God more wicked than the devil. By depriving the devil of the possibility of love and repentance, God forces him to do evil. Moreover a spirit of error and falsehood can only be a folly which thinks, nor does it deserve indeed the name of spirit. The devil is God’s antithesis, and if we define God as He who is we must define His opposite as he who is not. (THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC, page 428)

Freemasonry denies worshiping Satan. The mindset is easy to understand: “The devil simply does not exist; Lucifer is not the devil, but rather the Holy Spirit.”

Grand Lodge members at Northside Grand Lodges

The Builders

Mysteries of Magic

Grand Lodges point to Lucifer All Masons are members of the Grand Lodge. Most likely, some of the Masons who are members of Northside Baptist Church have not read T HE SATANIC RITUALS, A BRIDGE TO LIGHT, THE BUILDERS, or T HE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC. Yet, were they led by the Holy Spirit they would know that Freemasonry is incompatible with Christianity based on the ritual teachings in the Blue Lodge. The man being initiated into Masonry takes an active part in the ritual. In the Master Mason degree, the new Master Mason portrays Hiram Abiff. In that portion of the ritual known as the Legend of the Third Degree, Hiram is unjustly killed, buried and then raised from the grave. At the close of the ritual, the following summary of the meaning is spoken: Then, finally my brethren, let us imitate our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, in his virtuous conduct, his unfeigned piety to God, and his inflexible fidelity to his trust; that, like him, we may welcome the grim tyrant, Death, and receive him as a kind messenger sent by our Supreme Grand Master, to translate us from this imperfect to that all-perfect, glorious, and celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides. (See Kentucky Monitor, page 152.)

The meaning of the ritual is clearly explained: Masons are to imitate Hiram Abiff that they may welcome death and be translated into heaven.

Masonic Savior - Tolerated at Northside When a man is raised to Master Mason, he is given a small book called a monitor. Monitors are produced for each jurisdiction and are distributed at the direction of the authorities of Freemasonry, the Grand Lodges. The 8th through 13th editions of the monitor used by The Grand Lodge of Kentucky, THE KENTUCKY MONITOR, reveal the identity of Hiram Abiff in a discussion of various religions: All believed in a future life, to be attained by purification and trials; in a state or successive states of reward and punishment; and in a Mediator or Redeemer, by whom the Evil Principle was to be overcome and the Supreme Deity reconciled to His creatures. The belief was general that He was to be born of a virgin and suffer a painful death. The Hindus called him Krishna; the Chinese, Kioun-tse; the Persians, Sosiosch; the Chaldeans, Dhouvanai; the Egyptians, Horus; Plato, Love; the Scandinavians, Balder; the Christians, Jesus; Masons, Hiram. (pages XIV-XV)

The meaning is perfectly clear. Masonry teaches that Jesus is not unique. Jesus is a savior for Christians and Krishna is a savior for Hindus, while Hiram Abiff is a savior for Masons. THE MEANING OF MASONRY, by Lynn Perkins, clarifies the teaching: Therefore Masonry teaches that redemption and salvation are both the power and the responsibility of the individual Mason. Saviors like Hiram Abiff can and do show the way, but men must always follow and demonstrate, each for himself, his power to save himself, to build his own spiritual fabric in his own time and way. Every man in essence is his own savior and redeemer; for if he does not save himself, he will not be saved. The reader who succeeds in getting back to the real teachings of the masters, including Jesus of Nazareth, will find unanimity of thinking on this matter. T HE MEANING OF MASONRY, page 95.

The evidence concerning the existence of a Masonic savior has been shared with many within the Northside Baptist congregation. As a congregation, the position toward Freemasonry has been to condone and even defend it. Leadership at Northside Baptist Church has maintained a working relationship with Freemasons for many years after the facts were proven using Masonic Grand Lodge documents. It seems not to matter to the “spiritual leaders” of the congregation, or to the members that Freemasonry has another savior and worships a false god. Those who have participated in the rituals and have portrayed Hiram Abif as he is killed, buried and raised from the grave continue to be considered for membership, as well as for prominent positions with the congregation, including deacon. Some of the leaders have gone so far as to imply that those who oppose the idolatry and false gospel of Freemasonry are demon possessed! Those who speak for Northside Baptist cannot defend the ground they hold against truth, so they attempt to shoot the messenger. It is a common tactic of those who do not want to repent. Northside is, in every sense, a Masonic church. God holds the church accountable for what it tolerates as well as for what it teaches from its pulpit. The letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation make this clear. To the Church at

Pergamum He said: I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. REVELATION 2:14-16

To the church at Thyatira He said: Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. REVELATION 2:20

Although we have men present who have met in secret to engage in ritual which teaches salvation on the basis of imitating Hiram Abif, we hear messages from our pulpit about Northside being a cutting edge church and a church that can change the world. The truth of the matter is that the congregation at Northside is a congregation which has embraced the world and has formed an alliance with those who are ensnared in paganism and promote a false gospel which is based on another savior. Northside Baptist Church has become corrupted and compromised. The congregation at Northside has offered sanctuary to those who worship false gods and lift up another savior. Obviously, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and worship of the one true God simply are not that important to many at Northside. Although all genuine Christians are convicted that the Gospel is worth defending, Northside Baptists have not contended for the faith as the Holy Spirit urged in JUDE 3. Many at Northside do not consider the Masonic issue worth pursuing. Some would have the Masons in our midst go to hell without hearing God's will concerning Freemasonry voiced from our pulpit. Others would claim that participating in idolatry within the Masonic Lodge and taking part in a ritual in which another savior is portrayed as killed, buried and raised from the grave will not have an impact on a Southern Baptist's salvation. Yet EPHESIANS 5:5 tells a different story. No idolator will enter the kingdom of heaven. GALATIANS 1:8-9 explains clearly that the consequence of teaching a false gospel is condemnation. Repentance is the only path to God’s forgiveness.

Does the lampstand remain? There is a remnant at Northside who have not actively embraced compromise, or defended error. Yet, very few of that remnant are able to claim that they do not tolerate that which God hates. Almost all who know the truth remain silent. That silence is evidence of tolerance. Will God hold them blameless? Will He declare that they are lukewarm? Why will He consider them zealous for truth if they are not? Is it too late for Northside Baptist Church; is the lampstand already gone? Are the numbers and the commitment of the remnant significant enough to awaken the congregation to a need for repentance? Will they petition God for revival? Do they care enough to require that those they consider to be leaders reveal the whole will of God to those who are ensnared in error? Responsibility does not rest strictly with leadership. All those who know the truth have responsibility to share it. Concerning Freemasonry, Charles Finney wrote:

Those individuals and churches, who have had the best means of information, owe it to other branches of the church, and to the whole world, to take action and to pronounce upon the unchristian character of Freemasonry, as the most influential means within their reach of arousing the whole church and the world to an examination of the character and claims of Freemasonry. If churches who are known to have examined the subject withhold their testimony; if they continue to receive persistent and intelligent Freemasons; if they leave the public to infer that they see nothing in Freemasonry inconsistent with a creditable profession of the Christian religion, it will justly be inferred by other branches of the church, and by the world, that there is nothing in it so bad, so dangerous and unchristian as to call for their examination, action, or testimony. Charles Finney was only one of many voices condemning Freemasonry during the 19th century. Another evangelist of the period was Dwight L. Moody. Moody spoke clearly on the issue as well: I do not see how any Christian, most of all a Christian minister, can go into these lodges with unbelievers. They say they can have more influence for good, but I say they can have more influence for good by staying out of them and then reproving their evil deeds. You can never reform anything by unequally yoking yourself with ungodly men. True reformers separate themselves from the world. But, some say to me, if you talk that way you will drive all the members of secret societies out of your meetings and out of your churches. But what if I did? Better men will take their places. Give them the truth anyway and if they would rather leave their churches than their lodges, the sooner they get out of the churches the better. I would rather have ten members who are separated from the world that a thousand such members. Come out from the lodge. Better one with God than a thousand without Him. We must walk with God and if only one or two go with us, it is all right. Do not let down the standard to suit men who love their secret lodges or have some darling sin they will not give up.

Scripture makes it clear; the penalty for silence is particularly severe for those who are considered watchmen: "Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.” EZEKIEL 33:2-6

The sword is coming. The congregation at Northside is poised to meet the cutting edge. Is there anyone in leadership who will break ranks and sound a warning, or will they all stand before God with blood on their hands? What will Jesus do if He returns to find us standing shoulder to shoulder with men who meet in secret to lift up another savior? Larry Kunk, member, Northside Baptist Church

THE

MYSTIC SHRINE AN

ILLUSTRATED RITUAL OF THE

Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine REVISED EDITION

EZRA A. COOK PUBLICATIONS, Inc. Chicago, Ill. 60690

P. 0. Box 796

1975

22

THE MYSTIC SHRINE

Mystic Shrine, claiming to be Superior in authority, nor be present in any clandestine Temple not holding constitutional authority from the Imperial Grand Council of the Mystic Shrine. “I furthermore promise and vow that to the full measure and of my ability I will never swerve from justice nor duty. That I will respect virtue; protect the innocent; assist the distressed; promote the inculcation of honor and integrity and dispense reasonable charity. That I will protect and defend the unsullied honor of any Noble of the Mystic Shrine, when absent, if assailed; and now upon this sacred book, by the sincerity of a Moslem’s oath I here register this irrevocable vow, subscribing myself bound thereto as well as binding myself by the obligation of the prerequisite to this membership, that of a Knight Templar or that of a thirty-second degree A . and A, Scottish Rite Mason. In willful violation whereof may I incur the fearful penalty of having my eyeballs pierced to the center with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed and I be forced to walk the hot sands upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea until the flaming sun shall strike me with livid plague, and may Allah, the god of Arab Moslem and Mohammedan, the god of our fathers, support me to the entire fulfillment of the same, Amen, Amen, Amen.” Grand Potentate-“ In token of your sincerity salute the Sacred Book, the Bible.” Priest-“ Unbind the Sons of the Desert. They are now of noble birth. The rays of the hot, flaming sun upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea are strong and more scathing. than the hempen thong.” Nobles are all seated by the Grand Potentate’s striking once. Candidates are ordered to arise and their wrists are unbound.

28

THE MYSTIC SHRINE

on a large sponge filled with ice water, when the news comes that he has been forgiven on account of his good character, which has just been received by telegraph; he is led out and invested with his former clothes. While the foregoing is being enacted, candidates who have escaped the Prize Fight etc. are conducted into another room, where they either find several members disguised as women, or find them discussing an expected visit of “Lady Nobles of the Shrine” or they are squarely told that there is to be such a visit that evening and a committee may be appointed to receive them in a proper manner. Candidate is stripped to shirt, drawers and slippers, blindfolded, and led around the room several times when he is halted. Conductor- (to candidate) This is the place where our brethren stop to sprinkle the Devil’s Pass with urine. You will contribute a few drops of urine to commemorate the time and place where all who pass here renounce the wiles and evils of the world to worship at the Shrine of Islam. Only a few drops will do. Candidate begins to obey instructions when the blinder is jerked from his eyes and he beholds before him a group disguised as women, with bonneted faces and capes showing, the rest of their bodies hid by a screen. He is allowed to escape from the room amid a roar of laughter from the on-lookers. Meanwhile, and during these scenes, another Drama takes place, while the last is going on as follows: Some member goes out and calls the most timid candidate aside, or if there be but one, some delay takes place, and he is left alone with the member who should be his friend. The member then hastily

The Satanic Rituals Anton Szandor LaVey

UNIVERSITY BOOKS, INC. - SECAUCUS, N.J.

- CONTENTS -

INTRODUCTION

11

CONCERNING THE RITUALS

15

THE ORIGINAL PSYCHODRAMA-Le Messe Noir 31 54

y of the Stifling Air L’AIR EPAIS-The C eremony

THE SEVENTH SATANIC STATEMENT-

76

Das Tierdrama

THE LAW OF THE TRAPEZOID--Die elektrischen 106

Vorspiele

NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN--Homage to

131

Tchort

PILGRIMS OF THE AGE OF FIRE- The Statement of Shaitan

151

THE METAPHYSICS OF LOVECRAFTThe Ceremony of the Nine Angles and The Call to Cthulhu

THE SATANIC BAPTISMS-Adult Rite and Children’s Ceremony

THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

173 208 219

The original Templars’ rite of the Fifth degree symbolically guided the candidate through the Devil’s Pass in the mountains separating the East from the West (the Yezidi domain). At the fork of the trail the candidate would make an important decision: either to retain his present identity, or strike out on the Left-Hand Path to Schamballah, where he might dwell in Satan’s household, having rejected the foibles and hypocrisies of the everyday world. A striking American parallel to this rite is enacted within the mosques of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, an order reserved for thirty-second degree Masons. The Nobles have gracefully removed themselves from any implication of heresy by referring to the place beyond the Devil’s Pass as the domain where they might “worship at the shrine of Islam.” L'Air Epais is impossible to perform without an indiscreet degree of blasphemy toward the Christian ethic, hence its exclusion from Masonic ritual, thereby halting any further progression beyond the Thirty-third degree Scottish Rite and Tenth grade York Rite level. The Order of the Rosy Cross of Aleister Crowley’s magic curriculum provided an interesting comparison in its Seventh degree (Adeptus Exemptus). I n that rite, the alternative to taking the Left-Hand Path was to become a Babe of the Abyss, which is not as contradictory and confusing as it sounds, if one considers Crowley’s ofttimes Machiavellian modus operandi. Crowley,_ nobody’s fool, simply set up a magical maze so that students whose consciences would only allow them to tread the Right-Hand Path would nevertheless wind up on the Left. Fortunately, precious few of Crowley’s disciples progressed as far as the grade of Adeptur Exemptus, thus neatly preventing problems that might have arisen from such rude spiritual awakenings. The overtly anti-Christian sentiments of The Ceremony of the Stifling Air classified it as a “Black Mass,” according to the accounts that were employed to indict the Templars. 56

RITUAL Prescribed by the

GRAND CHAPTER ROYAL ARCH MASONS STATE OF INDIANA For the governrnent of Constituent Chapters MARK M ASTER, PAST M ASTER, MOST EXCELLENT M ASTER AND R OYAL A RCH D EGREES

Compiled by

HERBERT A. GRAHAM 1935 Now Grand Lecturer Emeritus Revised by

THE RITUAL COMMITTEES 1949, 1950 and 1951 1952

18

MK M is opened at Ezekiel 44. He then returns to his place without salute, leaving Altar on his right, removes coat, rolls up sleeves and puts on apron as a Fellow Craft. When SD reaches his station the R W M immediately says-

RWM-In the name of God and Hiram Abif I declare Chapter No. - open in form on the Mark Master degree. Brother Junior Deacon, inform the Tyler. The RWM seats himself and gives * which seats the Lodge. The JD goes to the door and gives *** *. Tyler repeats *** *. JD opens door and saysChapter No. - is JD-Brother Tyler : now open on the Mark Master degree. JD closes the door and goes to his place and saysJD-Right Worshipful Master: That duty is performed. RWM gives * which seats the JD and completes the ceremony of opening. PROLOGUE RWM-Brethren: We have met for the purpose of conferring the Mark Master degree upon a Master Mason, Brother who has been regularly elected by this Chapter to receive it. If there be no objection we will proceed with the ceremony. RWM-I declare the Lodge at refreshment during the Prologue. Brother Junior Deacon you will

A BRIDGE TO LIGHT bY

Rex R. Hutchens,

320 K.-.c.-.c~.H~.

Foreword by C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33O Sovereign Grand Commander

THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33O ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY SOUTHERN JURISDICTION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1988

28TH DEGREE - KNIGHT OF THE SUN

This, of course, is one reason why this degree is both Kabalistic and Hermetic, but there is another. The actual origins of both Alchemy and the Kabalah have been the subject of much speculation. We do know for certain that both, as now understood, are products of the fertile medieval mind. Whether they have roots in the far more ancient past may be arguable but their impact on the mysticism of the 18th and 19th centuries is not. Many Masonic writers have assigned the origins of modern Freemasonry to the alchemically-inclined Rosicrucians of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Others have just as fervently denied any such association. Pike certainly believed alchemy and the Kabalah to be of very ancient origin and the teachings reflected in the ritual and lecture’ of this degree reinforce that belief. Much of the detail in the ritual serves to provide the evidence for these ancient origins, explaining parallels and similarities, delving into language and symbols, seeking common threads. Ceremony

The furnishings in the Council of the Knights of the Sun are few. The seating for the officers is of no particular type. The altar is square. The walls or hangings are painted to represent the open country, mountains, field, forests and plains; that is, nature. The ceiling should be decorated to represent the heavens with the moon, the principal planets and the constellations Taurus and Orion. A single powerful light, a great globe of glass, representing the sun, is in the South. Transparencies throughout the room provide additional light and have upon them the major symbols which are intended to help convey the teachings of the degree. In a physical sense the greater light comes from the sun and the transparencies provide lesser light; symbolically, the sun or great light is the Truth and the lesser lights are man’s symbolic representation of Truth. The most elaborate transparency hangs in the North and may be called the Ancient of Days. The first notable symbol in this complex transparency is its border: the Gnostic worm ouroboros, which is a simplified dragon or serpent biting its tail; it is symbolic of all cyclic processes and in particular, of time. The ritual says that

251

COUNCIL OF KADOSH

the Active Principle seeks the Passive Principle; fullness, is amorous of the void; the serpent’s mouth attracts his tail, and revolving on himself, he at the same time flees from and pursues himself.

We find another explanation in the lecture for the Rose Croix Degree: The serpent.. . the Phoenicians.. . deemed to be immortal.. . becoming young...by entering into and consuming himself. Hence the Serpent in a circle, holding his tail in his mouth, was an emblem of eternity (p. 278); and further in the lecture of this degree: 252

28TH DEGREE - KNIGHT OF THE SUN

There is a Life-Principle of the world, a universal agent, wherein are two natures and a double current, of love and wrath. . ..It is a ray detached from the glory of the Sun,. . . . It is the body of the Holy Spirit, the universal Agent, the Serpent devouring his own tail (p. 734). The figure of an aged man and his reflection reminds us of the Hermetic teachings: The Visible is the manifestation of the Invisible

and What is above is like what is below

This concept is first taught in the Scottish Rite system in the Fellowcraft Degree and may be found in its lecture (p. 34). Under close scrutiny, we see the Seal of Solomon as the controlling design motif in the Ancient of Days illustration. It teaches us that the reflection of the Deity is always visible in nature but that we may mistake the shadow for the substance. Thus, to Pike, science was not merely the observation of the physical world that we might understand it, but the study of nature that we might understand Him. This is what is meant when Pike says in the lecture, “Even to the Barbarian, nature reveals a mighty power and a wondrous wisdom, and continually points to God” (p. 713) Suspended in the East is a transparency of the Seal of Solomon, which is two interlaced triangles, one white and one black, representing the Macrocosm:

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INDIANA MONITOR and FREEMASON’S GUIDE Compiled by

LAURENCE R. TAYLOR

Published by authority of the

MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA 1993

172

INDIANA MASONIC MONITOR

WHEN IS A MAN A MASON? The following was written by Brother Dr. Joseph Fort Newton, as the closing paragraph of his widely read book “The Builders.” It bids fair to become a Masonic classic. “When is a man a Mason? When he can lookout over the rivers, the hills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, and courage-which is the root of every virtue. When he knows that down in this heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and as lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love his fellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins-knowing that each man fights a hard fight against many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keep them, and above all how to keep friends with himself. When he loves flowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he can be happy and highminded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When star-crowned trees, and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters, subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aid without response. When he finds good in every faith that helps any man lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into a wayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of the most forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin.

JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, LITT. D.

The Builders A STORY AND STUDY OF FREEMASONRY

MACOY PUBLISHING AND MASONIC SUPPLY COMPANY, INC. R I C H M O N D , VIRGINIA

F IRST AMERICAN EDITION , 1914 REPRINTED 1915, 1916, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926 R EVISED EDITION, 1930, REPRINTED 1945, 1946 R EVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION . 1951

COPYRIGHT, 1914, 1930 B Y JOSEPH FORT N EWTON COPYRIGHT , 1951, 1979 BY MACOY PUBLISHING & MASONIC S UPPLY Co., INC.

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57

open, yet understood only by those fit to receive it, those who do not seek the secret merely to satisfy curiosity-who are not content to see the truth and not to be changed by it. Hence, the familiar refrain in the teaching of Jesus: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” What kept it hidden was no arbitrary restriction, but only a lack of insight and fineness of mind to appreciate and assimilate it. Nor could it be otherwise; and this is as true today as ever it was in the days of the Mysteries, and so it will be until whatever is to be the end of mortal things. Fitness for the finer truths cannot be conferred; it must be developed. Without it the teachings of the sages are enigmas that seem unintelligible, if not contradictory. In so far, then, as the discipline of initiation, and its use of art in drama and symbol, help toward purity of soul and spiritual awakening, by so much do they prepare men for the truth; by so much and no further. So that, the Secret Doctrine, whether as taught by the ancient Mysteries or by modern Masonry, is less a doctrine than a discipline -a method of organized spiritual culture, and as such has a place and a ministry among men.

2 Perhaps the greatest student in this field of esoteric teaching and method, certainly the greatest now living 1 is Arthur Edward Waite, to whom it is a pleasure to pay tribute. By nature a symbolist, if not a sacramentalist, he found in such studies a task for 1 Arthur Edward Waite died May 19, 1942.

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THE B U I L D E R S

which he was almost ideally fitted by temperament, training, and genius. Engaged in business, but not absorbed by it, years of quiet, leisurely toil have made him master of the vast literature and lore of his subject, to the study of which he brought a religious nature, the accuracy and skill of a scholar, a sureness and delicacy of insight at once sympathetic and critical, the soul of a poet, and a patience as untiring as it is rewarding; qualities rare indeed, and still more rarely blended. Prolific but seldom prolix, he writes with grace, ease, and lucidity, albeit in a style often opulent, and touched at times with lights and jewels from old alchemists, antique liturgies, remote and haunting romance, secret orders of initiation, and other recondite sources not easily traced. Much learning and many kinds of wisdom are in his pages, and withal an air of serenity, of tolerance; and if he is of those who turn down another street when miracles are performed in the neighborhood, it is because, having found the inner truth, he asks for no sign. Always he writes in the conviction that all great subjects bring us back to the one subject which is alone great, and that scholarly criticisms, folk-lore, and deep philosophy are little less than useless if they fall short of directing us to our true end-the attainment of that living Truth which is about us everywhere. He conceives of our mortal life as one eternal Quest of that living Truth, taking many phases and forms, yet ever at heart the same aspiration, to trace which he has made it his labor and joy

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to essay. Through all his pages he is following out the tradition of this Quest, in its myriad aspects, especially since the Christian era, disfigured though it has been at times by superstition, and distorted at others by bigotry, but still, in what guise soever, containing as its secret the meaning of the life of man from his birth to his reunion with God who is his Goal. And the result is a series of volumes noble in form, united in aim, unique in wealth of revealing beauty, and of unequalled worth. 1 Beginning as far back as 1886, Waite issued his study of the Mysteries of Magic, a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi, to whom Albert Pike was more indebted than he let us know. Then followed the Real History of the Rosicrucians, which traces, as far as any mortal may trace, the thread of fact whereon is strung the romance of a fraternity the very existence of which has been doubted and denied by turns. Like all his work, it bears the impress of knowledge from the actual sources, betraying his extraordinary learning and his exceptional experi1 Some there are who think that much of the best work of Mr. Waite is in his poetry, of which there are two volumes, A Book of Mystery and Vision, and Strange Houses of Sleep. There one meets a fine spirit, alive to the glory of the world and all that charms the soul and sense of man, yet seeing past these; rich and significant thought so closely wedded to emotion that each seems either. Other books not to be omitted are his slender volume of aphorisms, Steps to the Crown, his Life of Saint-Martin, and his Studies in Mysticism; for what he touches he adorns. His later volume, The Way of Divine Union, is perhaps the masterpiece of modern expositions of Mysticism, the more so because he writes from the inside, as one who has in his experience that which gives him a key to much that is hidden to others.

The

Mysteries of Magic A DIGEST OF THE W RITINGS

OF

ELIPHAS LEVI Contents: Life of Alphonse Louis Constant; Notes on the Mysteries of Magic as expounded in the

Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi; Threshold of Magical Science; Doctrines of Occult Force; Written Tradition of Magic; Doctrine of Spiritual Essences, or Kabbalistic Pneumatics; Ceremonial Magic; Science of the Prophets; Science of Hermes; Key of Magical Phenomena; Key of Modem Phenomena; Religion of Magic; Great Practical Secrets; Thaumaturgical experiences of Eliphas Levi; Embodying the Spirit of the Author’s Philosophy; Three Credos of Eliphas Levi: Creed of the Magus; Catholic and Magical Symbol; Philosophical Credo.

WITH BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAY BY

Arthur Edward Waite ISBN l-56459-374-6

XXXVI.

The light we perceive is a part only of the infinite light, the few solar rays which correspond with our visual apparatus. The sun itself is a lamp adjusted to our dim sight ; it is a luminous point in that space which wouId be darkness to the eyes of our body, but is resplendent for the intuition of our souls. XXXVII.

The word magnetism expresses the action and not the nature of the great universal agent which serves as mediator between thought and life. This agent is the infinite light, or, seeing that the light is itself only phenomenal, it is rather the light-bearer, the great Lucifer of Nature, the mediator between matter and spirit, the first creature of God, but termed the devil by impostors and the ignorant. XXXVIII.

What is more absurd and more impious than to attribute the name of Lucifer to the devil, that is, to personified evil, The intellectual Lucifer is the spirit of intelligence and love ; it is the Paraclete, it is the Holy Spirit, while the physical Lucifer is the great agent of universal magnetism. XXXIX.

To personify evil and exalt it into an intelligence which is the rival of God, into a being which can understand but love no more-this is a monstrous fiction. To believe that God permits this evil intelligence to deceive and destroy his feeble creatures is to make God more wicked than the devil. By depriving the devil of the possibility of love and repentance, God forces him to do evil. Moreover a spirit of error and falsehood can only be a folly which thinks, nor does it deserve indeed the name of spirit. The devil is God’s antithesis, and if we define God as He who is we must define His opposite as he who is not. X L

We must seek for the spirit of Dogmas, while receiving their letter in its integrity as the priestly sphinx transmits it. it.

KENTUCKY MONITOR Complete Monitorial Ceremonies of the Blue Lodge THIRTEENTH EDITION

A RRANGED

BY

HENRY PIRTLE Past Master

Copyright, 1921 THE STANDARD PRINTING Co. INCORPORATED LOUISVILLE, KY.

THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY “A Masonic Manual should be strictly confined in its text to the purpose for which it is intended. The field is amply extensive, and those who wish to enlarge upon and amplify the symbols of Masonry have before them the height and depth, from earth to heaven, from the ‘surface to the center,’ as the field of their operations.” Thus read the preface to an old Masonic manual by Cornelius Moore,’ former editor of the Freemason’s Magazine and then editor of the Masonic Review (Cincinnati). The purpose in publication of the KENTUCKY M O N ITOR has been to collect and present to the lodge officers and interested brethren some of those comments which have been made by qualified brethren in such amplification of some portions of our ceremonies not otherwise sufficiently explained. The writer has endeavored to edit this matter for appropriate use rather than to enlarge it with his own comments. All matter here included has been found in print elsewhere in proper sources. The intention of the K ENTUCKY M ONITOR has been to aid the brethren engaged in the active work in the lodges in their endeavors to extend the Light, that the Spirit of Masonry may ever guide the way. When the First Edition of the KENTUCKY M O N I T O R appeared in the year 1918 a great struggle among the peoples of the world was then in progress from which America hoped that the world might be made “safe for democracy.” Again, with this Eighth Edition in 1946, “we are met on a great battlefield of that war” testmg whether any nation “conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” can long endure, whether “government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Masonry has ever championed in its peaceful way the right of the common man t o 1 “The Craftsman, and Freemason’s Guide,” 13th edition, 1859.

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of whisperings of ancient truths discovered in the oldest religions which once ruled the minds of men and whose ruins, says Brother Albert Pike, encumber the plains of the great Past, as the broken columns of Palmyra and Tadmore lie bleaching in the sands of the desert. They rise before us, those old, strange, mysterious creeds and faiths, shrouded in the mists of antiquity, and stalk dimly and undefined along the line which divides Time from Eternity; and forms of strange, wild, startling beauty mingle in the vast throng of figures with shapes monstrous, grotesque and hideous.” The primitive men met in no temple made with human hands. God, said Stephen, the first martyr, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. In the open air, under the overarching mysterious sky, on the highest hills or in the lowest valleys, in the great World-Temple, they uttered their vows and thanksgivings and adored the God of Light; of that Light that was to them the type of Good, as darkness was the type of Evil. Masons from time immemorial have been called “Sons of Light.” It is a peculiar co-incidence that the Egyptian words “Phre-Massen” mean “Children (especially Sons) of the Sun,” that is “Sons of Light,” a term applied to those who had been received into the Ancient Egyptian Mysteries. The word “Phre” meant the Sun, and Mas was a child. Masons, as Sons of Light, to this day write all Masonic dates by adding 4,000 years to the year of the common era. The present year Anno Domini 1941 is expressed in Masonic circles as “Anno Lucis 5941,” that is, “In the year of Light 5941.” All antiquity solved the enigma of the existence of evil by supposing the existence of a Principle of Evil, of demons, fallen angels, an Ahriman, a Typhon, a Siva, a Loki, or a Satan, that, first falling themselves, and plunged into misery and darkness, tempted man to his fall and brought sin into the world. All 6 “Morals and Dogma." 7 “Morals and Dogma."

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believed in a future life, to be attained by purification and trials; in a state or successive states of reward and punishment; and in a Mediator or Redeemer, by whom the Evil Principle was to be overcome and the Supreme Deity reconciled to His creatures. The belief was general that He was to be born of a virgin and suffer a painful death. The Hindus called him Krishna; the Chinese, Kioun-tse; the Persians, Sosiosch: the Chaldeans, Dhouvanai; the Egyptians, Horus: Plato, Love; the Scandinavians, Balder; the Christians, Jesus; Masons, Hiram. It is interesting that the “small hill west of Mount Moriah” has been identified as Golgotha, or Mount Calvary. Krishna, the Hindoo Redeemer, was cradled and educated among shepherds. A tyrant, at the time of his birth, ordered all the male children to be slain. He performed miracles, say his legends, even raising the dead. He washed the feet of the Brahmins. It was on a cruciform tree that Krishna was said to have expired, pierced with arrows. He descended into Hell, rose again, ascended to Heaven, charged his disciples to teach his doctrines, and gave them the gift of miracles.8 T h i s belief of primitive man in the fall of mankind from the Kingdom of Light and restoration to bliss through a Redeemer is also inseparably connected with the belief in original creation through the spoken Word of the Supreme Deity. God spoke the Word and the Word created the world and the creatures therein. Only by this all-powerful, omnipotent Word could * * * be raised from Death to immortality! This legend of the Master Mason’s Word is rooted among the very oldest beliefs of mankind. T h e pastor of your church will tell you that, viewed historically and critically, the Fourth Gospel of St. John is an entirely different kind of document from those of the first three Gospels. The first three are called the Synoptical Gospels, because of their many agreements in subject, order, and 8 “Morals and Dogma.”

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Judah, which bears witness that even in this perishable frame resides a vital and immortal principle, which inspires a holy confidence that the Lord of Life will enable us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet, and strengthens us with confidence and composure to look forward to a blessed immortality; and we doubt not that on the glorious morn of the Resurrection our bodies will rise and become as incorruptible as our souls. (*) (*) (*) And now, my brethren, let us see to it, and so regulate our lives by the plumb line of justice, ever squaring our actions by the square of virtue, that when the Grand Warden of Heaven shall call for us, we may be found ready. Let us cultivate assiduously the noble tenets of our profession, brotherly love, relief, and truth; from the square learn morality; from the level equality; and from the plumb rectitude of conduct. Then let us imitate our G. M. H. A. in all his varied perfection. Let us emulate his amiable and virtuous character, his unfeigned piety to God, and his inflexible fidelity to his trust, that, like him, we may welcome the grim tyrant Death, and receive him as a kind messenger sent by our Supreme Grand Master to translate us from this imperfect to that allperfect, glorious, and celestial Lodge above, where the Great Architect of the Universe presides, forever reigns. (*)

THE MEANING OF

MASONRY A POPULAR GUIDE TO THE VALUES OF ANCIENT AND MODERN FREEMASONRY

by

Lynn F. Perkins

CSA Press, Publisher Lakemont, Georgia 30552

C H A P T E R

X I

WHENCE SALVATION? MASONRY encourages men to accept their role as Builders of a spiritual fabric, but it also emphasizes that there is a power in every man that will enable him to work toward that sublime goal. What a mockery, what a mummery, if the teachings of ancient Freemasonry had placed before men a goal that they had no power to attain either on earth or in the heavens! The ancient teachings declared-and modern psychology corroborates-that every man, no matter how deeply in the darkness of ignorance and error, has within himself, sometimes deep within himself, the marvelous power to lift himself out of darkness into light, out of ignorance into wisdom, out of error into righteousness. Indeed, if this is not the Truth, then the life of man on this earth would be meaningless and devoid of all hope amid the terrible tribulations and predicaments of a world of ignorant lunatics. The Great Architect could not have created men in His own image without endowing all with the inner capacity and potential for redemption through the conquest of self in a long-term process of self-improvement on earth and in the heavens. Therefore Masonry teaches that redemption and salvation are both the power and the responsibility of the individual Mason. Saviors like Hiram Abiff can and do show the way, but men must always follow and demonstrate, each for himself, his power to save himself, to build his own spiritual fabric in his own time and way. Every man in essence is his own savior and redeemer; for if he does not save himself, he will not be saved. The reader who succeeds in getting back to the real teachings of the masters, including Jesus of Nazareth, will find unanimity of thinking on this matter. Yes, your fate, your destiny, is in your own hands! It has always been, and it will always be, in your own hands. No